What a penny buys #StorageGeek

My most recent tech panel (CTRL-ALT-TECH on the first day of SXSWi ) was on the topic "All Things Storage".  As part of that panel I brought along a little slice of storage history: an Apple ProFile from one of my two Apple III systems -- the computer that launched me into programming all those years ago.

Near the end of the live interactive session I brought out the ProFile and declared it a "box of storage firsts"...

TIP: VirtualBox Unresponsive Windows #VirtualGeek

After many years of using VirtualBox as my preferred virtual desktop hosting software for development VMs I ran into a new-for-me issue:  Internet Explorer's page display would become exceedingly slow to respond to changes within a few seconds of loading.  Refreshing the page did not help.  Opening a new tab repeated the process:  slow page response a few seconds after the completion of page load.

A bit of virtual poking and prodding eventually revealed a solution, though not an explanation...

 

TIP: Beware nefarious spaces #DotNetNukeGeek

I'm never ceased to be amazed at "holes" in software that's been around for ages -- that is, simple bugs that have had plenty of time to be detected and quashed but somehow aren't.  This week I ran into an oversight in the venerable DotNetNuke (aka "DNN") web platform which is a nicely-featured framework for quickly building .NET-based websites.

DNN has been around for over a decade yet the bug that tried to bite me is a simple oversight in how account usernames are handled...

Speaking during SXSWi 2014! #PublicSpeakingGeek

South-by-Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) kicks off here in Austin on March 7 and I'll be speaking that day as part of a live web broadcast!  Well, to be accurate, the broacast *is* tech related and is happening *in* Austin and is sponsored by a tech company with worldwide presence on the *same day* that SXSWi begins so technically that's a SXSWi-related event...right?  Or at least an "unsanctioned" SXSWi event?  Maybe just a little...?

Part of the live broadcast will feature my own sweet 1981 Apple Profile hard drive.  Not only was the Profile Apple's very first hard drive product but, inside, it included Seagate's very first hard drive product which also happened to be the world's very first 5.25-inch format hard drive -- the drive that set the sizing standard for PC hard drives these past 35 years.

Check back for my follow-up post where I'll share details and a photo or two from the webcast's Profile-related segment.

Google + Nest: My wish list come true? #GadgetGeek

Google Nest:
Chrome encased in chrome?

It seems hardly possible that Google could extend its reach into people's personal space even more than it already has.  Every web search, every email and nearly every step (via Android device location tracking) is already in Google's grasp.   Yet, impossibly, Google has managed to extend that reach by buying the right to know when people are home and, in some cases, even where people are in the home regardless of whether one happens to carry an Android device.

The purchase of Nest means Google has added in-home motion sensors (and light sensors and smoke sensors and CO2 sensors) to its growing belt of people-monitoring tools.  Privacy advocates are -- and rightly should be -- concerned over such a wide-ranging and intimate ability to snoop and monitor.  At the same time, however, such an integration of tools makes for some geekily exciting possibilities.  Oh, to heck with privacy -- let's talk about my "Nest Wish List"...

Google Glass in Austin #GadgetGeek

Austin was Google's third stop on its nationwide Glass tour which aims to get Glass into the hands of more than just a priviledged few, if only for a short period of time.  Google is attempting to reach out and build enthusiasm among a consumer base that still doesn't quite know what to make of the product.

If the event in Austin was any indicator, Google is on the right track:  the event was well-managed with just enough time for every attendee to see live demos, play directly with Glass and ask plenty of questions....

Nest Protect: $129 for a 7 Year Lifespan #GadgetGeek

The new Nest Protect is step #2 in Nest's plans to deliver smart, interconnected household devices that are truly consumer-friendly.

The $129 Nest Protect is a super-smart, wifi-enabled smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that creates a wireless network of sensors that can be managed from a computer or smartphone and can even interact with and extend the capabilities of Nest's existing HVAC thermostats.

The problem?
Each and every Nest Protect must be thrown away after seven years...

99 Problems #AdminGeek

I got 99 events but a "Windows is up to date" notification ain't one...

#WindowsServer2012

Tech Panels and Future Tech #PublicSpeakingGeek

Blogging and speaking on tech panels occasionally gets the attention of vendors and sometimes those vendors ask me to review their products...

Future Tech: Tech Talks Live
This summer I've been fortunate to have been invited as a panelist *twice* for "Tech Talks Live" - a live webcast covering hot topics in SMB IT.  Each episode of TTL focuses on a particular subject and includes a "Future Tech" segment that asks "Where is this technology heading?"  The "Future Tech" segment is my favorite as it provides an opportunity to briefly outline my reasoning (narcissistic, I know) for a particular direction of tech development.  I outlined one "Future Tech" idea in my recent "Smart Will Go Dumb" post.

Future Tech: Product Review
Today I was contacted by a startup that's been working hard at leveraging 3D printing for profit.  The business idea is basic but intriging -- something that's just begging for a company to "get there first" and become entrenched as the segment leader.  The information I have on this company and its business model is interesting but not very detailed -- I've asked the company for specifics on how it intends to handle product customizations (the core of the business and the reason for using 3D printing) and what steps and commitments prosepctive customers will be subjected to.  Is a deposit required to initiaite a design?  How many times can a customer ask for a design change?  What if the customer is not satisfied with the proposed design(s)?  Etc.

I really like the core idea this startup is pursuing but I've decided against mentioning the company's name or product until I know more.  Hopefully the startup will provide sufficient detail for review and, perhaps, even serve as the subject of my next "Future Tech" discussion.

VDI via Windows Server? You'll want 2012 R2... #VirtualGeek

If you already have or perhaps have been eyeing a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure implementation via Windows Server then you'll want to give a close look to the upcoming Server 2012 R2.  Go start the free download of R2 Preview here (free license expires on January 15, 2014) while you read my comments below on R2's upcoming VDI goodness...

TIP: RPC issues with VirtualBox #VirtualGeek

I recently had occasion to set up Virtual Machine Management features of a Windows server hosted within a VirtualBox-based VM instance. I'd done this in the past but this time I was connecting to target VMs hosted within a Windows failover cluster. I could see the clustered VMs just fine (via the Failover Cluster Manager) but when selecting a specific VM and clicking "Manage virtual machine" my VMM console spat out a "RPC server unavailable" error.

It turns out that VirtualBox does not pass through the needed RPC traffic when the VirtualBox-hosted machine's NIC is in "NAT" mode.  If you encounter this, switching the NIC from the default "NAT" to "Bridged Adapter" may take care of the problem (as it did for me).

Smart Will Go Dumb #MobileGeek

I've been fortunate enough to be invited to speak on a number of tech panels the past few years.  The latest is an upcoming session on the state of mobile devices in the workplace.  One of the preparatory questions forwarded to me is "What are your predictions for the future of mobile device management?"  I'm no tech oracle but one item I do believe is coming (and no one is seriously talking about...yet) is the reemergance of dumb terminals in the form of mobile devices.  Here's why that idea makes sense...